Morrissey Central "BEAM OF LIGHT." (May 19, 2023)


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"Sometimes one of the most radical things you can do is to speak clearly. When someone dies, out come the usual blandishments … as if their death is there to be used. I'm not prepared to do this with Andy. I just hope … wherever Andy has gone … that he's OK. He will never die as long as his music is heard. He didn't ever know his own power, and nothing that he played had been played by someone else. His distinction was so terrific and unconventional and he proved it could be done. He was also very, very funny and very happy, and post-Smiths, he kept a steady identity - never any manufactured moves. I suppose, at the end of it all, we hope to feel that we were valued. Andy need not worry about that."

MORRISSEY.


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I think at the time Andy would have been more hurt by Johnny melting down under the pressure and walking away from the band.
 
Yeah, because what Morrissey wrote in 1986 is obviously more relevant than the tribute he just wrote for Andy in 2023, you absolute moron.
Yeah, because what Morrissey wrote in 1986 is obviously more relevant than the tribute he just wrote for Andy in 2023, you absolute moron.
What he wrote in ‘86 cannot be unwritten. Moz backpedaling faster than Eddy Merckx in a Tardis won’t change a thing.
 
I think that Morrissey spoke about Andy's death quite correctly and very warmly, despite the negative moments from the past. It is unexpected and pleasant to hear such things from him when you know how he "shoots to kill" with his statements.
I listened to The Smiths "This Night Has Opened My Eyes" all day yesterday and was fascinated by Andy's bass line. How harmonious and funky his bass sounds, setting off the brightness of Johnny Marr's flashing guitar parts! Together with Morrissey's melancholic vocals, this song is able to "take away from reality" and provide food for thought. Yes, Morrissey is right: as long as people listen to Andy Rourke's music, he will never die.

Anyway, I still don't share the idea that a The Smiths reunion would bring them all together (even if the old grievances were completely gone). Yes, a band reunion was the dream of every The Smiths fan, and in the dreams, the new songs were as powerful as ever, rocking the world. And yet, the dream remained unfulfilled, because The Smiths without Andy Rourke is not The Smiths. A reunion would have spoiled everything, for, after a triumphant reunion, The Smiths would be doomed to become a "fashion product", further losing their individuality. It just so happened that The Smiths, as a band, was destined to last only 5 years before breaking up forever. But these four guys, being together, made such a "rustle" in the history of music that it is still heard. And I'm glad that Andy took many opportunities to realize himself as a musician, but without the defining prefix "former bassist of The Smiths". His musical contributions have influenced the lives and choices of many people (not just The Smiths fans), and Morrissey has made it quite clear that he respected and respects Andy.
 
The Smiths released their third studio album, The Queen Is Dead, on June 16th, 1986 in the UK on Rough Trade Records. A week later, it was released in the US on Sire Records. The album contains the hits, “The Boy With The Thorn In His Side,” “Bigmouth Strikes Again,” and “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out.”

Written by Morrissey and Johnny Marr, "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" features lyrics drawn from "Lonely Planet Boy" by the New York Dolls. According to Marr: "When we first played it, I thought it was the best song I'd ever heard”

It was not released as a single in the UK until 1992, five years after the band had broken up for a best-of compilation.

We’re featuring the song as today’s ear X-tacy in honor of The Smiths’ bassist Andy Rourke who passed away in May, 2023.
 

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